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Saint Jean Baptiste Day celebrations promote family and culture

'The language is very important, and basically it’s one way of getting all the French Canadians together, and continue the traditions' Daniel St.-Onge

It was a soggy start to Saint Jean Baptiste Day celebrations at North Bay’s waterfront Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to deter people from carrying on the tradition started five years ago.

Saint Jean Baptiste Day is held annually on June 24.

Lou Gagne, special events coordinator for Les Compagnons des francs loisirs explained the popularity of the event.

“Jean Baptiste is the patron saint of the French language and it's become a national holiday in Quebec City, but in Ontario, a lot of places in Northern Ontario have taken up the celebration. We do that to join the families and enjoy the culture and the music.”

Celebrations were held in North Bay a number of years ago but drifted away. Only recently was there a resurgence within the francophone community.

“It’s gaining momentum now in Northern Ontario. It’s tying in a lot of the stuff that we do year ‘round, and this event brings all our different age groups together, so it’s intergenerational. They come together, play games, listen to music, enjoy good food, so it's a real family-oriented event.”

People lined up for the bean bag toss, face painting, and Texas horseshoes.

Daniel St-Onge was practicing bean bag tossing as he waited for his grandchildren to arrive.

“I’m here because of our culture. I’m French Canadian. Saint Jean Baptiste, or St. John the Baptist, is one of many saints in the Catholic church and that’s who the French Canadians adopted as their patron,” explained St-Onge.  

It’s important for him to encourage the next generation to celebrate their culture.

“The language is very important, and basically it’s one way of getting all the French Canadians together, and continue the traditions.”

Lise Landriault made it a point to bring her young children to share in the festivities.  

“We’re proud of our culture and heritage, so it was important for us to be here rain or shine. There are always activities for the kids so we like to keep them busy and we look forward to meeting up with other families and friends.”  

“Our main purpose for Les Compagnons is to gather, you know, gather the Francophones, gather the community together, and this is another event where we can do that,” said event coordinator Lou Gagne.

The day began with performances from the finalists from the singing contest Star Academy, aged five to 18 years of age. It was followed by the Quebec group Bam, a mix of percussion and comedy. The day wrapped up with a cruise on the Chief Commanda with a musical performance by Rachel Barber.